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May 7, 2006

G29-30-31: Orioles at Red Sox

0507, 7:15 PM -- Sweep! Lenny DiNardo walked four in the first, but Jason Varitek countered with a grand slam in the bottom half. DiNardo settled down (5-2-2-1-5-5) and combined with Julian Tavarez, Keith Foulke and Manny Delcarmen on a four-hitter.

At the top of the order, Keith Youkilis (.330) and Mark Loretta each had three hits and scored two runs. Mike Lowell hit his 17th double.

0507, 12:09 PM -- Quote of the series: Kevin Millar, May 5: "Ortiz would love to see my naked body."

0507, 11:25 AM -- The Red Sox have won their last 10 games against the Orioles. They won 11 straight from September 25, 1976 to June 23, 1977.

Matt Clement will not pitch against the Yankees. Terry Francona is holding him back, so Schilling and Wakefield stay on their normal schedule. Clement will face Texas on Friday on seven days rest.

Wanna know what the CHB's next column will be about? Keith Foulke wants the Hall of Fame to return the spikes he wore in the 2004 World Series.

0506, 9:00 PM -- Getting caught up with the papers after a two-day absence:

Sean McAdam reports that there's been "talk within the organization of trying Craig Hansen in a starting role." Theo Epsten admits "it's a bit of a longshot ... but it hasn't been totally dismissed."

Mike Lowell is adoublesmachine. He hit three more on Friday, taking over the AL lead with 16. (I also saw his diving foul catch of Brandon Fahey's bunt, thanks to MLB!) Lowell is hitting .417 (25-for-60) over his last 15 games (and 15-for-30 over his last eight), raisng his average to .350.

Coco Crisp has begunpracticing, catching little orange balls with his bare hand. Jeff Horrigan of the Heraldwrites that becuse Crisp "still hasn't been given clearance to swing a bat, which could push back the timetable for his return to later in the month than projected." ... Coco says: "I'm sticking with a week-and-a-half for now. I'm getting the (range of) motion back and the tendon is loosening up because of the swelling but the discomfort has gone down and there’s no pain."

David Wells could return to the starting rotation as early as May 23 if all goes according to plan. ... In an article about Alex ".184" Gonzalez and his job security, the Globe's Nick Cafardo describes Edgar Renteria as "a quiet guy who likes playing without a lot of fanfare. Definitely not a Boston guy." ... Hmmm, Nick, ever hear of Bill Mueller?

0504, 7:30 PM -- Writers are not responsible for the headlines over their articles, so when I saw this

Now it's time for Papelbon to show he can rebound

over Sean McAdam's column, I figured I'd still read what he wrote. Sadly, the silliness of the headline was matched in the text:

The streak is over. Now comes the interesting part. ... (Terry Francona and the rest of the Red Sox) want to know that last night's mishap won't carry over. They want to see that Papelbon can bounce back. ... The key will be to see how Papelbon deals with the setback. For a younger, less confident pitcher, the disappointment could linger.

McAdam has got to be kidding, right? After the Boston media has been writing about how tough Papelbon is and how cool and collected he has been under pressure, now that he allowed one measly run, some are wondering if it might destroy him? Unbelievable.

By the way, that run was the first allowed by Papelbon since September 19, 2005 -- 25.1 innings ago.

The Red Sox lost their first one-run game at Fenway since April 19, 2005. The 18 straight home wins tied the major league record of the 1925-26 St. Louis Browns and 1963-64 Baltimore Orioles. ... In his last seven games -- which include five in center field -- Wily Mo Pena is hitting .357 (10-for-28).

I don't want to get into a debate about Barry Bonds, but Bud Selig is behaving like a petty shithead. First, he says MLB will do nothng special if/when he passes Babe Ruth on the all-time home run list. Now, MLB will not authenticate the baseball Bonds hits for number 715. It's not the all-time record, but it is hugely important in the game's history.

14 comments:

You can't consider McAdam "Boston Media"; he writes for ProJo, the Providednce Journal. You should should read some of the other drivel that passes for journalism in that rag.

The best thing about Providence is that it is only a few minutes away from McCoy Stadium, the home of the Triple A Red sox affiliate, the Pawtucket Redsox (PawSox) and the absolute gem of minor league ballparks.

If you haven't been there and you are a baseball fan, you owe it to yourself to visit.

For $9.00 you can sit in a front row box seat behind the dugout.

For $6 you get a general admission ticket and can wander around the ballpark at will. Hot dogs $2.50, 16oz beers $4.50.

It is truly a beautiful ballpark and a wonderfull baseball experience. If you're within an hours drive or so, you should check it out.

Wells will be rehabbing there soon. I hope he puts on a better performance than he did in his last rehab stint there this spring.

Redsock: I forgot to relate yet another moment of Anti-Manny bias in the first Jays game. Manny caught the Jays napping and tried for an extra base advancing on a single to left. It looked like the throw would beat him, but Halladay, taking it, dropped the ball and Manny was safe. The ESPN announcers ridiculed the play as a "Manny moment", saying that he had taken baserunning to a whole new level (but not a GOOD level!! Har! Har!). Well, bottom line, Manny got an extra base by aggressive hustle. If Pete Rose or Derek Jeter or some other player did the same thing, these same jerks would be raving about alert baserunning.

yeah, that play with manny running to third was nothing but a heads up play on manny's part.i think they just like to rip on him because it just looks so funny when he does it? his hat comes flying off, doo-rag perched on his head, sprawled on his butt. it's just so manny to be a mess (making a good play) with a smile on his face while he does it :)

Speaking of Manny moments, did you see Manny get deked by his team-mates again: when they took the field, led by Clements, they deked Manny by stopping on the top step of the dugout and letting Manny run out onto the field alone, and he didn't even notice until he was way out in left field, at which point he looked back and laughed good naturedly and gave them a dismissive wave of the hand.

They pull that on him once or twice a year.

A small thing but indicative of a team comming together as a team with a prsonality and also of their affection for Manny, because they wouldn't pull that practical joke on him if they knew he would take it the wrong way.

I don't want to jinx him, but I think Manny came into this season with a different mindset. Or maybe it's the addition and subtraction of teammates. But I like it.

It might take the rest of the country a while to pick up on that, if they ever do. Forget about ESPN -- they are hopeless.

Clements did a pretty good job (damning with half praise) but walking so many batters will not win many games where we don't score 7 runs.

Love to seee Loretta continue to put the doubts to rest.

I notice Manny and Papi have passed each other this past week with Papi's BA going down to .275 and Manny's going up to .299.

They are pitching Papi tough now.

Good move by Tito to bring in JP (now that's a chant I can live with -- Pap-el-bon) and put him right back up on the horse.

Seanez is on borrowed time. Taveras is as proven a commodity as a middle reliever/set-up guy gets; mostly he just need to pitch more. With Sox starters going deeper into games, the 3-man bulpen has been pretty much all you need more than once a week. Taveras and Seanez need to pitch more innings to get and stay sharp, though I think Rudy's a lost cause.

Oops, Two mistakes in my post, Jack: the 's' on Clement is a typo, and I misspoke when I said "Loretta" meaning to say Lowell, because of doubts many expressed over his off season at the plate last year.

Maybe Loretta to is begining to hit stride too. He's had a very tough stretch out there on the road.

I hope you're right about S & T just needing more pitches, because we will be needing their arms and they haven't inspired much confidence so far.

Zeke: Right on about Lowell...what a pleasent surprise. I had been telling everyone I could that the odds favored a bounce-back given his age and pedigree, but there was a healthy componant of wishful thinking in that. The guy really is a very slick fielder, and if he contributes offensively at a .285 80 rbi level (which seems reasonable based on what we've seen)my former favorite Redsock, Bill Mueller, won't be missed.

Thanks as always for the Manny news, Jack. For some in the media, he can do no right. Good hustle by him is explained by a poor defensive play, a good throw from left is chalked up to a dumb risk by the opponent, etc.

I have to admit -- I don`t like going to minor league games. All the silly promos and songs and sound effects on foul balls and general circus atmosphere takes away from what I am there to see -- baseball.

(That goes for most major league parks as well. Why add the crap -- do they think the game is not enough for us?)

I think RedSock may have missed the play of the year on Friday, speaking of Lowell, on the very first play, Baltimore's leadoff man tried to bunt his way on base but popped it up foul down the third base line. Lowell came charging in and layed himself out flat in a diving catch taking it right off the top of the grass. It looked like Varitek was even closer and may have had a chance, but what a play by Lowell. They showed it a bunch of times on TV. He won a lot of hearts and minds with that play. What a great season he is having. I love a good comeback. He may be up for that award if he keeps up the way he is going.

McCoy does not have a lot of that tacky stuff you mentioned, Redsock, except on theme nights, which are for the kids, where they give away hats or bats or something. It is New England afterall, and it's serious baseball at McCoy with a great loing time owner, and a minimum of distractions during the game.

I attended a game there last summer and sat a few seats down from Theo and his brain trust, there to evaluate the pitcher, Wade (?). Nobody made a fuss or bothered them at at all. I wouldn't recomend it to anyone if i wasn't sold on the quality of the experience. I discovered it by accident when my truck broke down nearby one afternoon so to kill time I wondered into the game. It was 4 bucks then. I've kept going back.

You know they've made Fenway a bit of a carnivale type experience in some ways too, the last few years. Besides it being unaffordable for most, between the parking, the tickets, and the food and bevrage costs.

Great to see some runs scored behind Wake. The bats really come alive at Fenway, don't they.

Manny's bash was a monster. Wily Mo keeps on a-comming, and even AG was torrid with two hits and is now peeking over the mendoza line.

The fans are the entertainment in Fenway...they don't need any crap (not that any park needs the junk they throw at you in Camden Yards.) I do wish they'd use the organ more and recorded rock less in Fenway, but that battle's been lost since John Kiley left us. R.I.P, John. Loved yoour rendition of "I Enjoy Being a Girl," though I never understood what it had to do with baseball...

Lowell really is a terrific player...hard-nosed, intense, good eye, fundamentally sound. That's why I am so adamant, Zeke, that the Sox didn't lose anything chemistry-wise by adding pros like Loretta and Lowell. And nice to see Gonzo finally getting some hits. His play on Markekis' bloop in the 8th was really good...that drops in with a lot of shortstops, scoring two runs.

18-12...that's .600, Zeke, my boy! Only 97+ wins over a season, but closer to 102 than 90!

By the way, the pitcher was Wade Miller...a Duquette-style Theo move that I really thought would work out. Does everyone remember that this time last year the Sox were using Blaine Neal, Matt Mantei, a washed-up Alan Embree and a crippled Foulke as 4/5 of the bullpen? Even with Rudy, this cast is a huge improvement.

Sounds like the Lowell play was that one on the bunt. Just a 10 second clip or so. ... I hope the lay of the year comes much later this summer.

Yes, Fenway has adopted some of the stupid shit all the other parts have, which is a real shame. They could make a statement about the respect they have for the game and fans and park by cutting it out. It could be a great advertising theme -- just the game -- and with any luck, it might catch on.

(Camden is one of the worst I have experienced (of 19 MLB parks) with the Toilet close behind.